Brothers
by Laguna's twin sister
Summary: [Chikyuu Sentai Fiveman] One lonely night. Two Hoshikawa brothers reach an understanding. Waff but nonyaoi [nope, not an incest fan, sorry.] Episode 32 Spoilers.


Disclaimers: I don't own Fiveman. But I wish I can have Gaku's heart sigh

Brothers

After tossing and turning in his bed for more than an hour, Gaku finally decided to give in to the possibility that he would probably stay awake all night. He sighed as he got out of bed, slightly ashamed of his childishness. He would never admit it to anyone but nightmares still frightened him. In the silence of his room, many painful memories came back to haunt him somehow and no matter how much he tried to fight it, they still came back – with a vengeance. And so in many nights like this one, he opted to stay awake and do something productive, instead of engaging on a fight he knew he would lose.

The eldest among the Hoshikawa brood was merely seven years old when he first encountered the invaders they are now fighting as adults. The fear of losing his life, his parents as well as his siblings was great and its intensity remained the same even after how many years. He was able to fight his fear somehow as he grew older – he had to, as he had to deal with his siblings' fears as well. However, in some nights such as this one … he just can't seem to forget and be strong for himself.

He had a brush with death merely days ago when the enemy somehow managed to "kill" him during the surprise party his brothers and sisters gave him. He touched his chest where his heart lay and he felt it beating and it just proved that the enemy failed; yet even though the time was reversed and he was not even supposed to remember what had (or technically, _had not_) transpired, the memory still lingered somewhere at the back of his head. It still was fresh to him, the feeling of dying … the feeling of failure. He still remembered his sorrow when he realized that he can no longer protect his siblings, can no longer push their fears away, and can no longer be with his parents again.

His train of thought was cut short when he heard some footsteps nearing him.

"Hey Arthur, I'm just getting a cup of warm milk. I can do this myself… you can go and re-charge, I'll…"he stopped when he realized that it was not their Arthur who stood there watching him, but Ken.

"Hey, Aniki. Can't sleep too huh?" the younger man asked as he gave him a slight smile.

Gaku nodded and got two mugs from the cupboard instead of one. He thanked Kami once silently for sending him a companion for tonight. "Yeah, I've been thinking about some things…"

"Oh… I've … well… been thinking too," Ken replied and Gaku couldn't help but notice the sadness in his voice.

"You? Thinking? Come on," the older one teased slightly, earning an indignant grunt from Ken. "Sorry, I couldn't help myself," he grinned after a while as he sat across his brother.

They drank together in silence, neither one of them really knowing what to say to the other. Gaku felt that he was responsible for his brother and must know what was troubling him to somehow resolve it. And so after a few minutes, he finally spoke up, "So, what have you been thinking about?"

He had to wait for a while for his brother's reply until finally, "This and that," he said curtly. Gaku knew there was more he wanted to tell him but he was just having difficulty articulating what he wanted to say. It was odd to see his brother at such a predicament, knowing fully well how among all of them, Ken was the most outspoken one… well, next to Remi of course.

"Oh… then if you want to talk about this and that… well, my ears are all yours. I don't think warm milk would work on us anymore. And we'd have a long night ahead of us," he said right before he took a big sip from his own mug.

"Aniki, I know you haven't been sleeping that much lately. I hear you coming down every night for a week now," Ken said seriously as he looked at his brother intently.

"You've been hearing me? Then you haven't been sleeping much too?" Gaku asked, a bit surprised about his brother's revelation. He always made sure he was quiet during his attacks of insomnia so as to not wake up anybody, but apparently he failed.

"Well, I know you've had sleeping problems since we were younger," Gaku watched as Ken made that comment while turning his mug slightly making the liquid circle a bit, "because whenever I had problem sleeping, you'd always be there to tuck me back in bed."

Ken rarely showed sentimentality and Gaku had to smile to himself when he realized that tonight was one of those rare moments. His brother always projected himself as the tough one and was somehow his opposite, especially when it came to impulsiveness. But when it came right down to it, they are alike the most for they were good at masking their weakness, for hiding that inner child's fear.

"Hey, I'd tuck you in now if you want to," he kidded slightly, wanting to ease off some tension between them. Ken smirked at his uttered comment and silently drank from his mug.

"But seriously Aniki…I…" Gaku saw the hesitation in Ken's eyes as he gripped his mug tightly that he thought it would break.

He reached out across the table to pat him on the shoulder. "Come on, you could tell me. What's bothering you?"

"Aniki… I… really missed you, you know?" in a rare display of emotion, Gaku saw that his brother's eyes started to get tearful. It somehow made his heart ache for his brother as his pain suddenly became his as well.

"But I'm here with you now, aren't I?" he replied at him with a kind smile. Some memories came back to him suddenly. He remembered how his siblings cried all around him when they thought he had died and how tightly they have embraced him when he "came back". He remembered how everyone had stayed close to him soon after everything had happened. He started to feel awkward to have everyone at his beck and call… everyone except Ken. Maybe he has not fully gotten over the incident yet. Maybe his "death" bothered him more than he expected him to, or at least not as much as his other siblings did.

"But Aniki… whenever I think about one of us …or mom and dad…disappearing… I can't… I can't bear it. I've lost them once Aniki. I can't bear to lose any one of you…" Ken's tears started to fall now and Gaku had to move from his seat to be beside his brother. It was only then that he remembered how hard it was for this brother of his to express his feelings. Ken was a good-hearted soul. It was just that he had trouble wearing his heart on his sleeves. He knew where he was coming from. They had to act strong at such a young age. He wouldn't be surprised if his other siblings confessed that they were afraid of death… of losing someone…of being alone, even when they faced that probability every time they had to fight. They faced danger so often that the mere prospect of death must be ignorable by now.

"Hey, come on. I'm all right. I got a year older, but I won't be leaving in a while. We still have to find mom and dad…" he said positively while giving his brother comforting pats on the back.

"But Aniki… it's not just that… That time… that wasn't the only time you almost got yourself killed. I still remember those other times where…" it was too much for Ken and he finally sobbed in his big brother's chest. Gaku was surprised at the sudden turn of events but overcame his emotions nonetheless. He patted his brother's head as he always did many times before. They were all grown up, but he and his brother… maybe some things would never change.

"Shh… It's alright," he murmured, trying to comfort his younger brother, "I felt what you're feeling a lot of times too. I get scared at night just thinking about those things." It surprised him how his sudden confession of his own cowardice didn't bother him at all.

"You? Afraid too?" Ken said softly, in between sobs just like when he was a little child.

"Yeah. I was afraid of what will happen if I suddenly die and leave you, Kasumi, Remi and Fumiya alone. I was afraid of failing to protect you or watch out for you. Mother and father… I promised them and I was afraid to break that promise."

Gaku was surprised when his brother pushed him away slightly, making him let go. He watched as Ken stubbornly yet timidly rubbed his nose with the back of his sleeve. "Hey, we can take care of ourselves Aniki. It's not like we're invalids or something."

"I know that," Gaku said solemnly, "It's just that I wanted to keep you all safe with the hopes that we'd be a complete family again someday."

He left it at that and silence lasted between them for a while. Then after a few moments, the brothers looked at each other, not saying anything but feeling that they have reached some sort of understanding – both of them feeling comfort from each other's presence.

Ken sniffed slightly, feeling slightly ashamed of acting like a kid and crying all over his big brother but he knew deep in his heart that Gaku knew where he was coming from. He was always there for him and he was sure that he knew that he would be there for him as well – because that's what brothers do. However, the weight of the responsibility always fell on their Aniki since he was older. He watched Gaku silently as he washed the mugs they just used. Gaku, ever dependable Gaku, who would go through all the pain before he would even let them get a piece of it, if he would let them get a piece of it.

"Hey Aniki. Promise me something," Ken finally blurted out.

"What is it?" Gaku asked, turning his head to face him, "Don't worry, I won't tell them anything."

"No, not that!" Ken exclaimed as he felt himself blush. "Well… actually… that too. But promise me another thing."

"Hm?" Gaku turned and gave his brother his full attention.

"Promise me that if you ever have trouble sleeping again, you'd wake me up, all right? Then we could talk. And maybe I can make you cry on my shoulder and all that," Ken said, adding the last part to tease him a bit and hide his own shame for what just happened.

"You wish," the older Hoshikawa said as he messed his little brother's hair. "Ok, sure Ken. I promise."

"I guess it's about time we hit the sack," Ken yawned as he stood up as if nothing happened.

"You sure you don't want me to tuck you in?" Gaku teased once more and barely missed the playful kick Ken shot at him. "Goodnight crybaby Ken."

His brother childishly stuck out his tongue at him as he entered his room and Gaku couldn't hold back a chuckle.

As he settled down in his own bed, he felt stronger than before. He felt that he can take on any nightmare at that moment – because now he was reminded that he wasn't alone, he never was. He had no reason to feel fear, for now he knew perfectly well that his siblings had his back.

Author's Notes: wheee! Fiveman fic! Hahahaha. Fiveman is my favorite Sentai show of all time. I've watched it like…10 years ago or something. I can't even remember that episode where Gaku died. All I know is that that was my favorite episode. I've been watching the early Japanese episodes lately and I've noticed that Ken is the only one who calls Gaku "aniki", which is the more formal and somehow more "endearing" way of saying Onii-san. (everyone else calls him "Gaku Onii-san/chan") This was one of the reasons why I made this fic about the two of them.

Another reason was because i was looking through fics some time ago and i saw that Incent racelis has a fiveman mega crossover fic of her own so i learned that there was actually a super sentai category here. Hahaha! So thanks Incent Racelis, this fic is for you!

Hope you guys enjoyed the fic. And I super duper wish to see Fiveman back on TV! Go fiveman go!


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